Beijing Street Race Retained for 2026 GTWC Asia Season

The Beijing street race, which is set for its GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS debut later this year, will remain part of the calendar in 2026, while Hidden Valley Raceway joins the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS schedule.

SRO Motorsports Group revealed plans last year to host GTWC Asia’s first-ever street race, which will be held on a 3.04-mile track located in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (also known as ‘E-Town’).

Although the inaugural edition of the event has not yet been held and is set to debut later this year, SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel confirmed during his annual press conference at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa that the aim is for the event to return next year.

It has currently been penned in for an October slot, but is one of several rounds to yet have its final date confirmed.

Sepang kicks off the season on April 4-5, followed by rounds at Mandalika and Shanghai in May and June.

Fuji has retained its July slot, with a second round in Japan scheduled for August with the exact location and date yet to be confirmed.

2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS Schedule:
April 4-5 — Sepang
May 2-3 — Mandalika
June 5-6 — Shanghai
July — Fuji
August — Japan
October — Beijing

Hidden Valley Raceway Joins GTWC Australia Calendar

Also confirmed on Friday, Hidden Valley Raceway will join the calendar for GTWC Australia next year.

The 1.78-mile circuit, located near the city of Darwin in Northern Australia, has been a fixture of the Repco Supercars Championship and has also hosted Porsche Carrera Cup Australia events.

It forms part of a six-round calendar of the series next year, although that contains one round, slated for November, for which the exact date and location remain yet to be confirmed.

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, which will host this year’s season finale, notably does not appear on the provisional schedule revealed on Friday while Phillip Island, Sydney Motorsport Park, The Bend Motorsport Park and Queensland Raceway have been retained.

Phillip Island hosts the season opener, which has been moved forward to the final weekend of March, followed by a round at The Bend on May 9-10.

The South Australia circuit, co-owned by current FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 racer Yasser Shahin, trades places with Sydney Motorsport Park, which moves to September instead.

The third round at Queensland has been moved up from August to June, while the Hidden Valley round is scheduled for July.

2026 GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Schedule:
March 17 – Official Media and Test Day (Phillip Island)
March 28-29 – Phillip Island
May 9-10 – The Bend Motorsport Park
June 13-14 – Queensland
July 25-26 – Darwin (Hidden Valley Raceway)
Sept. 19-20 – Sydney
TBC – TBC